Shearings adding 30 Tourismos to its fleet

The new coaches are to the tour specialist’s Celebration Class specification

Shearings Holidays is adding 30 new Mercedes-Benz Tourismos to its fleet.

To the company’s Celebration Class specification, the coaches are due to be delivered to the operator in May. The new vehicles are part of the business’s ongoing vehicle renewal programme.

Each coach is individually named after loyal customers and drivers both past and present in celebration of their life and loyalty to Shearings. In addition, the coaches will include new features, such as lateral seat movement, wifi and USB charging points. The remainder of Shearings’ fleet will have wifi installed in March in preparation for the summer season.

Before Christmas, the operator asked its customers to nominate why they felt a coach should be named after a loved one. Over 300 nominations were received, which was whittled down to 20 winners. In addition, Shearings Holidays is currently asking its drivers to nominate fellow drivers who they feel are also worthy of recognition. Once this process is completed, ten drivers will also have coaches named after them. Regional naming ceremonies will take place once the vehicles are delivered.

MD at Shearings Holidays, Jane Atkins, said: “Our customers and drivers are incredibly loyal and we wanted to give something back in recognition of this. We felt that naming a coach after them would demonstrate just how much we value them and the name will appear on the coach door so everyone can see it.”

Shearings Holidays has a fleet of 130 coaches and it is company policy that no coach used is over seven years old. The new vehicles are the operator’s most environmentally friendly yet. Stylishly re-designed interiors will include new lateral movement seats to allow more ‘elbow room’ (the aisle seat can shift out into the aisle) plus additional impact protection technology, integrated satellite navigation systems and all terrain auto cruise control, which effectively allows the vehicle to provide the safest, smoothest and consistent journey by ‘sensing’ road conditions, gradients as well as the presence of other road users.

After customer research and feedback, the operator has decided that the new coaches will remain the familiar blue colour so well known throughout the UK and further afield.

Atkins added: “We were keen to involve our loyal customer base in this decision-making process and we took to social media to ask our followers their thoughts on a change away from the current colour and design. There was a resounding request for the brand to remain blue and we have listened, taken this on board and the redesign takes this into account.”

 

 

 

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